A message from Pope Leo XIV, dated July 30 and signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, was read by Archbishop Arnaldo S. Catalan, Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda, at the opening of the SIGNIS World Congress - the World Catholic Association for Communication - underway in Kigali from August 3 to 8, the first time the event has been held in Africa. In the message the Pope urges communication professionals to contribute to a culture of communion, peace and care for creation, recalling - citing the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas - that "online communication is not simply the transmission of information, but the creation of a culture" and that "we need faces and voices to speak for people again."

In the days before the Pope's visit, thousands of young people from across Europe are walking to St. Mary of the Angels along the traditional Franciscan march, including a group from the Franciscan Youth Pastoral Ministry of Tuscany. The "GO! Franciscan Youth Meeting", underway from August 3 to 6, 2026, will culminate on Thursday, August 6 with the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, who will answer questions from the young people and preside at Holy Mass in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels.

Ahead of Pope Leo XIV's apostolic journey to France (September 25-28, 2026), with stops in Paris, Lourdes and Metz, the first welcome banners reading "Bienvenue à Paris, Léon XIV" have appeared outside several churches in the French capital. The journey, the fifth apostolic trip of the pontificate, carries the motto "Pour que le monde ait la vie" (So that the world may have life) and includes a visit to Notre-Dame Cathedral and a Mass on the Champs-Élysées.

The Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office released the video message sent by Pope Leo XIV to participants in the 144th "Supreme Convention" of the Knights of Columbus, gathered in Denver from August 4 to 6, 2026. In the English-language message, the Pontiff says that "in an age often marked by division and heated rhetoric, there is a great need for prophets of harmony" able to reconcile opposing positions, noting that "maintaining unity often is not easy and cannot be taken for granted" and requires "honest and humble dialogue." As in 2025, the Pontiff sent his greeting and encouragement to the Catholic association, engaged for over a century in works of charity, formation and fraternity toward the most vulnerable and marginalized.